


Not All Bruises Are Blue

by ZoneRobotnik



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: M/M, cabin mates, dash isn't so bad, snarky double
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-23
Updated: 2016-04-27
Packaged: 2018-06-04 02:37:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6637969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZoneRobotnik/pseuds/ZoneRobotnik
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny and Dash get paired up for a summer-long cabin trip, alone in the woods. How will Danny handle being stuck with his worst bully?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cabin-mates

**Author's Note:**

> Danny Phantom © Butch Hartman & Nickelodeon

“Mr. Fenton, you’re _late_!” Mrs. Tetslaff said as Danny stumbled into her office. “Well, why am I surprised? It’s nothing new, after all.” She picked up a clipboard, scanning it with her eyes.

Danny pursed his lips and kept his mouth shut about how much it hurt when his teachers said that about him, not wanting to upset his gym teacher by mouthing off. The last thing he wanted was detention _again_. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Tetslaff. Ghost attack…was at the nurse.” He held out a note, which he’d made sure to get since she always demanded proof.

“Hm.” Tetslaff took the note and nodded. “Alright, then. Well, since you’re _late_ , almost everyone has been paired up already. Only one cabin is left, so you’re stuck with that one.” She shoved a list in his face. “Here’s a list of what you’ll need to bring. Don’t bother bringing any cell phones or video games, there’s no power where you’re going!” She let out a hearty laugh.

Danny groaned, looking at the list. “…Great. A summer of camping with no way to contact home. Who am I stuck with?” He looked up at her.  
  
She looked at him and shoved the clipboard in her face. “Look for yourself, Fenton!”  
  
He blinked and looked down the list. Most of the names had check-marks and numbers, all but Danny and…

“Oh no. Can I please just opt out of this?” He pleaded, looking up at her.

“Not unless you want to fail this class!” Tetslaff declared. “Now get home and PACK!”

“I am so dead…” Danny groaned, walking out with his packing list. “Of all the people to be stuck with all summer, why him?”

**.**

“We’ll be back at the end of summer to pick you up!” Maddie said as Danny climbed out of the Fenton RV behind her, his pack slung over his shoulder. “Did you remember to pack a toothbrush? Extra socks? Underwear?”

“I did, mom, please just go already?” Danny asked, his cheeks tinted pink. She kissed his head and climbed back into the RV, his father giving a cheerful wave before he sped off, definitely knocking over a small tree as they left him behind in the woods.

Alone. Not too far away was the cabin he would be stuck in for the rest of the summer, and he looked over at it with the same dread he’d been feeling since he first saw who he was partnered with a week ago.

“…Well, no point in staying out here.” He mumbled, walking over to the door and gripping the doorknob.

“About TIME you showed up, Fenturd!” His partner jeered as Danny opened the door wider.

“…Hi, Dash.” Danny said, moving as quickly as he could to the bed that didn’t have a pack on it and set his pack down, sighing.

So, this was how he was going to spend his summer – alone in a cabin in the middle of the woods and no way to call for help…with Dash Baxter, his long-time relentless bully. If there is a God, he must HATE him.

“Man, and here I thought that summer was gonna be a real bummer!” Dash said, watching Danny start to unpack and put his clothes in one of the two dressers provided. “But I get to spend it wailing on you! Awesome!”

“Yeah, awesome.” Danny muttered to himself, sighing. “This is a cooperation exercise, isn’t it?” He looked around the cabin. Aside from the two dressers and two beds, there was a small woodstove, a shelf with something that looked like plates and bowls, and a table with two chairs. A cozy little place, but it felt way too cozy for his liking. “We should be… _trying_ to get along.”

“Whatever, Fentina.” Dash smirked as he sat on the edge of his bed.

“Starting with not using mean nicknames on each other.” Danny looked at him. “I mean, I can’t do anything about it at school, but can we at least pretend your life’s goal is not to beat up on me while we’re stuck together?”

Dash narrowed his eyes. “You’re lucky I haven’t pounded you already, Fenturd. You’re _really_ pushing my generosity.”

“Okay, alright.” Danny held up his hands. “The mean names stay. Fine.” He sat on the edge of his bed, looking at the desk that was sitting between the two dressers. Two notebooks were sitting on it, one with “Fenton” on the front and the other with “Baxter” on the front. “What’re these?”

“Man, you _really_ pay attention, don’t you?” Dash jeered, pushing off from his bed and walking over to pick up his notebooks. “We have to keep a daily log. Mrs. Tetslaff will grade us based on what we report in here, so don’t use it as your personal crybaby diary. If you wanted one of those, you should’ve just brought one.” He smirked.

“I don’t have a ‘personal crybaby diary’, and even if I DID, I wouldn’t bring it anywhere near YOU!” Danny snapped. His breath hitched when he realized he’d made the mistake of talking back and he got off his bed, moving closer to the door.

Dash was faster, already reaching out and grabbing Danny’s shirt collar roughly when Danny tried to pull away. He tugged him closer to him and smirked. “You just loooove to give me excuses to wail on you, don’t you?”

“D-Dash, I…” A blue mist escaped his lips and Dash flinched back from the sudden cold air hitting his face, releasing Danny in his surprise.

“What in the—“ Dash heard the door open and shut and realized that Danny had run outside. “Geez, that was cold…” He rubbed his cheek, where the mist had hit him, and found his cheek a bit wet.

**.**

“That was too close.” Danny shivered, slipping behind a tree and changing into Phantom. “Great timing, whoever you are. I’ll just finish this fight, then head back.” He gripped the thermos he’d grabbed while Dash was surprised and flew off to locate the ghost.

A green vulture with a red fez was flying over the woods, approaching two others. “Did you find it?” He asked.

“No, and I guess you didn’t, either?” One of the other ones groaned. “Bossman is gonna be so mad…”

“Not as mad as he will be when he finds out you got your butt kicked by me again!” Danny said, flying at the vultures and blasting at each of them one after the other. “What’s Plasmius up to this time?”

“Dat’s none of your business, Phantom!” One of them said. “This is Bossman’s personal thing, so just stay out of it!”

“Gee, I’d like to, but his ‘personal thing’ could be trying to marry my mom and kill my dad again, so it’s personal for me too.” He held out the thermos, pushing the button to suck them in. “Nothing personal, but I can’t have you going back to Vlad!” He grinned.

The vultures tried to fly away, but they were caught. He sighed once they were inside and put the lid back on, clipping it to his belt. “What is Vlad doing out here?” He mumbled, flying back to the cabin. He stopped when it was in view and dropped down, changing back to Fenton form.

Dash was out looking for him, it looked like. He was torn between changing back into Phantom and flying away or staying human form and facing his cabin-mate, but the thought of failing Tetslaff’s class made him give in and he walked out to where Dash was.

“Fenton!” Dash noticed him walking over and crossed his arms over his chest. “What are you, crazy? You can’t go into the woods alone! I bet you don’t even know how to fight!”

“I got a few lessons from my mom.” Danny said, glancing away.

“Not enough to beat a wild animal!” Dash punched Danny’s shoulder. “Since we’re out here, let’s go hunting for dinner!” He headed back into the cabin, Danny right behind him.

“Wait, hunting?” Danny asked as he watched Dash reach into his bag. He paled when he saw him pull out a huge hunting knife and backed away three paces.

“Yeah, hunting. You think we’re going to live on berries this whole time or something?” Dash chuckled. “We were told not to bring any food, y’know.” He held up the knife, taking it up and starting to sharpen it.

“I could…find berries, yeah.” Danny said, glancing away and flinching at the sound of the blade sliding on the whetstone. “My mom…and Sam…taught me a lot of botany stuff.”

“Good, then you can make some use of yourself and take the basket sitting under the table out. Go fill it with berries and plants. See if you can find some good for fixing wounds, too. We only have basic first-aid kits.”

“Alright.” Danny went to the table and pulled out the basket, heading for the door.

“Hey, Fenton.” The sound of the blade and whetstone paused.

“Hm?” Danny looked over at him. “What?”

“Don’t get killed.” Dash looked at him. “That will really kill my grade.”

“Thanks for the concern.” Danny said dryly, walking out and shutting the door behind him.


	2. Getting to Know You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny and Dash have to try to learn to work together. And Danny gets a new appreciation for Sam's vegan habits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danny Phantom (c) Butch Hartman & Nickelodeon

Dash stepped outside and looked around for Danny, but didn’t find him anywhere. “Well, he can avoid me somehow, he can avoid a wild animal.” He muttered, walking into the woods. He gripped the hilt of his sheathed knife, the sheathe tied to a belt-loop on his jeans, and scanned the area for any sign of life as he walked.

There, in that bush! He crouched down quietly, waiting patiently for it to move again. What would come out? Maybe a rabbit? Rabbit stew was pretty good, and they did have one pot and pan for such things. There was also a stream not too far away, he could smell the fresh water from here and if he listened closely he could hear the sounds of water running over rocks. He’d have to get closer to see how far away it was, but he guessed he was about a mile from the cabin right now.

The bush moved again and he saw the small creature hop out. Pulling out his knife, he lunged quickly and caught it with his hand, his other hand raising the knife.

.

“Phew, this place is full of stray ghosts! Either that or they’re all working for Vlad.” Danny closed the Fenton Thermos, sighing. “Now, where did I leave that basket…” He went invisible and intangible, flying through the trees until he located his logbook and basket. “Ah, here they are!” He landed and changed back into Fenton, putting the thermos back in the basket of berries and herbs. Then he picked it up and continued reaching into the bushes, studying them closely.

After it was most of the way full, he decided that was enough and made his way back. The sky was darker, which made telling one tree from another difficult. Luckily, he could switch on his ghost-vision and find his way through.

“EEEEEE—“ He froze when he heard some kind of animal’s dying scream and went invisible, creeping over with his basket and thermos.

Dash was knelt over some kind of small animal, other dead animals lying next to him. His hands were covered in red blood, and it made Danny feel sick to see it. He quickly retreated back to the cabin invisible, hoping to have recovered from this sick feeling before Dash got there.

Hopefully Sam wasn’t with a meat-eater. He suddenly understood why she never ate meat. Oh God, that scream…

.

“Fenton!” Danny bolted off his bed in surprise when he heard Dash call him. “Are you in there?”

“Y-Yeah, I’m in here!” Danny replied.

“Bring out that pan and a water bottle. There’s one in my bag. It’s too late to go to the stream and wash my hands.”

“Sure.” Danny went to Dash’s bag, getting out the water bottle, then went to grab the pan. Then he went to the door and opened it, holding out both items. “Here.”

“I’ll need some help washing my hands. Grab a rag, would ya?” Dash asked, facing away from Danny.

The stench of animal blood was in Danny’s nose, but he forced himself to do as he was told and brought out the rag with the other two items.

He couldn’t see any sign of animal; the poor things had already been skinned and butchered. He wondered briefly what Skulker planned to do with his body after he skinned him for his pelt – eat it?

“You have to soak the rag, Fenturd.” Dash said, rolling his eyes. “Can’t you at least help me wash my hands? Or are you too pathetic for that?”

“I can do it.” Danny mumbled, soaking the rag in water and reluctantly taking one of Dash’s wrists to start to scrub blood off his hand. The bigger male stared at him silently as he cleaned, Danny not saying a word or even looking away from those large hands until they were clean. Then he moved back a few paces. “I don’t know if I can eat those, though…”

“Fenton, did you know that the Native Americans thank animals for their meat and pelt, because it feeds and clothes them?” Dash asked. “And they even use the bones for things, because to do any less would be disrespectful to the animal. No point in killing them if you aren’t going to use every bit.” He picked up the cut pieces and put them in the pan. “There’s a wood pile behind the cabin. Go pick up about six pieces of wood and bring them in for the stove.” He got up and went inside, leaving Danny outside with the blood-stained rag and water bottle.

Danny swallowed nervously and got up, Dash’s words ringing in his ears. He hadn’t expected him to say such a thing, thinking if he hunted it was just for sport, but he was talking like he just killed for food and clothing. How often had he done trips like this?

Dash killed… Those two words together were just unnerving. Danny went behind the cabin and gathered the wood, carrying it in as ordered. Dash had pulled out flint and tinder and was waiting for Danny to put the wood into the woodstove. When he saw him he nodded and pointed to the open stove, his orders clear. Danny put the wood inside and then retreated outside to grab the water-bottle and rag, gingerly carrying the rag with two fingers.

Dash glanced at it. “We’ll wash that tomorrow in the stream.” He said, blowing on the fire to give it just enough breeze to get it going but not put it out. “Just put it under the table for now.”

Danny nodded, kneeling to put the rag under the table. “So, uh…you go hunting a lot?”

“My dad takes me on survival trips during the winter.” Dash replied. “From the start of winter break to Christmas, then we head back to Amity Park to celebrate with mom and the rest of the family.”

“Survival trips?” Danny blinked.

“Yeah, y’know. Live off the land, kill to eat. We have a cabin we go to all the time that’s been in the family for generations.” Dash looked at him, the fire casting an odd shadow on his face. “I’m guessing you don’t do that stuff with your family?”

“Uh, no…” Danny shook his head. “My family…they hunt ghosts, not animals. Ghosts are pretty much all they care about. We’ve had a few good camping trips, but mostly it’s…” He glanced away.

Dash stared at him silently, then closed the door of the woodstove before he got up and started to cook the meat, using a metal prod that he must’ve packed with him to shift the meat around. “Funny. I always thought things were peachy-keen with your family. Y’know, with your parents always being home and all. My parents are always busy.”

Danny nodded, sitting on one of the chairs. “…So, you can cook?”

“Let me guess, you can’t?” Dash rolled his eyes. “Honestly, Fentina, what CAN you do?”

“I can gather berries and hold my own kind of decently against a wild boar, maybe?” Danny shrugged. “Me and the wild…don’t really mix. I know how to fight off a thug if he tries to mug me, but I can’t really battle a beast.” He glanced away. “Or a jock.”

Dash sighed heavily. “You better hope whatever wife you have in the future can do everything you can’t.”

“Wait, I can do some things.” Danny frowned.

“And that is?” Dash asked, focusing on keeping the meat from burning.

“I can cook if I have instructions, I can do basic chores, and I can sew.” Danny said.

“You can sew?” Dash glanced at him.

“Yeah. And I know basic first-aid. I kind of taught myself from the internet, after I came home from a g—grapple with a big dog with a pretty bad leg wound.” Danny nodded. “He ripped my clothes, too. So I kind of trial-and-errored myself into sewing to fix it without letting my parents or sister know.”

Dash glanced back at the pan, using the prod to flip some of the meat over. “Why would you want to hide it from them?” He asked.

“My parents hardly notice anyway, and my sister would be all busy-body and insist on me never being alone again.” Danny huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “I didn’t want that. Besides, isn’t it better that I learn to take care of myself?”

“Maybe. But don’t take for granted what you have.” Dash said. “One day, you might wake up and they’ll be gone.”

A tearing pain hit Danny’s heart then and a flash of red eyes appeared in his head, accompanied by a cruel laugh. “You’re right…” He whispered. “I can’t…I have to treasure them now, because anything could happen. I can’t…I can’t lose them…” He curled up, wrapping his arms around himself tightly.

Dash glanced over and noticed he was in a fetal position but chose to ignore him in favor of the meat. He would deal with his cabin-mates annoying angst after he was sure tonight’s dinner and tomorrow’s breakfast wasn’t going to burn.

“Hey, Fenton.” Dash spoke up after leaving Danny in his silence for a bit longer. “Grab the cooler from my bag, would you?”

“Cooler?” Danny got up and went to Dash’s bag, pulling out a small cooler that was tucked under an extra jacket. “This one?” He held it up.

“Only one I have.” Dash said impatiently. Danny winced at his tone and walked over with it, opening it up for the jock. Dash used the prod to stab and carry some of the meat and put it into the cooler. “That’s for tomorrow’s breakfast. All we have to do is warm it up later.” He closed it and then lifted the pan off the woodstove, carrying it to the table.

Danny set down the cooler and grabbed a couple plates, setting them on the table. Then he went to his own pack and got out his water bottle, carrying it to the table to sit across from Dash’s.

“Hmph. Apparently you also know how to set the table.” Dash said tauntingly, going to his pack and pulling out a spatula.

“You’re really prepared. Coolers and spatulas weren’t on the pack-list.” Danny blinked.

“No, but they’re on the common-sense list.” Dash rolled his eyes, using the spatula to serve the meat. Danny grabbed the basket and set it on the table, putting berries on each plate. “What kind of berries are these?”

“Blackberries, blueberries and boysenberries.” Danny said, nodding. “They’re all really good.”

“I’ve had ‘em.” Dash nodded, sitting down and opening his bottle of water. “Eat, Fenton.”

“Uhm, silverware?” Danny blinked.

“Do you need it?” Dash raised an eyebrow. “There’s no sauce or anything, and it’s clean.”

Danny looked at the meat on his plate and picked it up, taking a bite. “Mm…it’s good. What is it?”

“Mole.” Dash said, biting into his own hunk of meat.

‘Well, now I know what mole tastes like…’ Danny thought as he continued to eat.

They continued their meal in silence, until Dash spoke up without warning and asked, “So, what’s in the thermos?”

“Huh?!” Danny looked up at him. “What?!”

“The thermos.” Dash pointed to the green and white thermos resting on Danny’s bed. “What’s it full of? Soup?”

“Uh, no.” Danny shook his head. “Ghosts. It’s a tool for capturing ghosts. My parents had me take it along in case I ran into any ghosts out here.” He explained. “It’s actually really useful.”

“Hm. What happens when they’re in there?” Dash asked.

“Oh, they’re just all smooshed and compacted until I manage to sneak past my parents to send them back into the Ghost Zone before they can put them on a lab table.” Danny rubbed the back of his head. “I, uh…don’t really like hurting ghosts.”

“Oh.” Dash nodded. “So, that means you’re not carrying on the family business?”

“Not in the way they want me to.” Danny said firmly. “Why did you ask, though?”

“Well, for one thing, you always have it on you. For another, I’ve seen Phantom carrying the exact same thing.” Dash raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, yeah. Uhm…Phantom and I are kind of in cahoots. Hehe…don’t tell my parents.” Danny said nervously.

Dash smirked. “Tell your parents? Why would I tell them anything about Phantom? He’s awesome!”

Danny glanced away, quietly eating his food again. Dash didn’t seem to be done, though.

“It’s just so great how he does all this stuff to protect us, even though he’s a ghost and really doesn’t have to! He’s an awesome role-model, and a great fighter!” Dash sighed. “If only I could fight side-by-side with him…that would be just perfect.”

Danny looked at his empty plate and decided against asking for another, drinking his water as he got up from the chair. “Well, I’m sure he’s glad to have a fan or two out there. The less people trying to shoot him, the better.” He said, walking over and sitting on the edge of his bed.

“You’re not eating any more?” Dash asked.

“I’m not that hungry.” Danny said, shaking his head.

Dash shrugged. “This is why you’re so scrawny, Fenton.” He put another one on his plate and started to eat it. “If you ate more, you’d actually be stronger!”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Danny mumbled, picking up the Fenton Thermos and looking at it. He would have to leave these guys in there all summer, what was the longest he’d left a ghost in the Thermos before?

Months. Years, if _he_ didn’t break out before then…

Man, why did Dash have to remind him about that…

He noticed the sound of the cooler being opened and shut and then the rustle of clothing, looking over to see Dash taking off his shirt. “Wha! Dash, why are you shirtless?”

“Because I don’t sleep in my jeans, Fentina.” Dash rolled his eyes. The closed woodstove didn’t give much light, but what it did was just enough for Danny to see the jock stripping down to change into some pajamas. He quickly looked away, feeling all kinds of awkward around his half-naked bully.

“You should change, too.” He glanced over to see Dash had finished dressing and was moving his pack off his bed to climb under the covers, facing the wall. “Don’t worry; I’m not going to gawk at your scrawny little body.” He assured him.

“Promise?” Danny asked, slowly climbing off his bed and pulling his pajamas out of the dresser.

Well, he wasn’t going to until he spoke so urgently. Dash glanced over as the smaller teen started to undress, his eyes widening a bit when he saw scars on Danny’s back that he knew weren’t from anything he’d done. They were very faint, as if he’d gotten those years ago, but they were there. And he knew that those weren’t there the last time he got a peek at his bare back by chance three years ago. That was before he’d started wearing a t-shirt when he went to the water park.

Tempting as it was to ask about it, he decided that they weren’t _that_ close and honestly it didn’t have anything to do with their grades.

Oh damn, their grades. He sat up and grabbed his notebook without turning to where Danny was, starting on his first entry in the log.

Danny noticed what he was doing and sighed, nodding. He had to fill out his log, too. He finished changing and grabbed his own notebook, writing into the log what they’d eaten, what they both did (minus the ghost fights) and how he thought that their relationship was progressing – seriously, why did Tetslaff need to know that?

They’d gotten to know each other a little, and Dash had only hit him once. Washing blood off Dash’s hands was unsettling but also a strange trust exercise.

Dash finished writing and lay down while Danny was still writing, his thoughts on the scars on Danny’s back. He’d been pretty wary of the hunting knife, had he been getting into trouble? Maybe it wasn’t a dog, but a gang that he had a “grapple” with? It made sense; he had started with the “gh” sound before clearly covering it up.

What did he care if Fenton got into gang fights? It didn’t affect his grade now, and this was only a temporary thing!

Still, it ticked him off to think of some other jerk laying their hands on his classmate. Dash never did anything too painful, but if those thugs were using knives on him…

Guh, too much to think about just before bed. Gotta clear his mind…

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, yes. Gh-ANG fights! XD
> 
> ((A/N: I am SO sorry for that mistake I made! I kept having trouble with the submission page and didn't realize I forgot to check the multi-chapter box! This is DEFINITELY more than one chapter! Please keep reading, and comment to let me know what you think!))


	3. Running Off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny sneaks off to hunt ghosts and Dash isn't having it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danny Phantom (c) Butch Hartman & Nickelodeon

As much as he wanted to put it out of his mind, Dash couldn’t help but think about those scars as soon as he woke up. And the second thing he thought about was ‘Where the hell is Fenton?!’ before he bolted up from his bed and went to Danny’s empty one. He placed a hand on it and frowned. ‘Still warm. He didn’t leave it too long ago.’ He grabbed his coat and put on his shoes, grabbing his hunting knife on the way out of the door.

“Fenton! Fenton, where are you?!” He called. He glanced at his watch: 4:30am. Why was Fenton up that early? Why was he _outside_ that early? The moonlight wasn’t much good for searching and the sun wouldn’t rise for an hour. Cursing under his breath, he ran back to the cabin and got his flashlight from his bag.

“Fenton!” He called, entering the woods with the flashlight shining his way. “Where ARE you?!”

.

“Dash?” Danny looked over in surprise and narrowly dodged an attack. “I can’t waste time here!” He grabbed his Thermos and fired it, the ghost being sucked up. Then he shut it and quickly dropped down invisible, changing back before he headed off to where he could hear him calling him.

“Dash!” He ran out to him. Dash shone his flashlight at him, then walked over and smacked him hard on the head. “Ow, what was that for?!”

“Are you an idiot, Fenton?! Running out in the middle of the night in just your pajamas with only a THERMOS?” He pointed at it. “That’s good against ghosts, but NOT against wolves!”

“Wolves?” Danny blinked.

“Yes, Fenton. Wolves.” Dash grabbed his wrist and pulled him back to the cabin. “You’re even barefoot, what the hell, Fenton?”

“Sorry, I didn’t think about it.” Danny glanced away. The truth was that he’d changed in the cabin and hadn’t thought to put his shoes on before he changed into Phantom.

“Of course you didn’t. When do you ever?” Dash rolled his eyes. “What time do you think it is, Fentina?”

“Uhm…” Danny looked up at the moon, trying to gauge the time.

“It’s almost 5:00am! The sun is going to be coming up soon!” Dash snapped, opening the cabin door and shoving him in. “Whatever. Grab your clothes and towel; we’re going to the stream.”

Danny blinked and went to his dresser, doing as he was told. “Wait…why are we going to the stream?”

“To bathe, duh.” Dash gathered his own things. “Did you bring shampoo and soap?”

“Uh, uhm…yes, but…uh…” Danny glanced around nervously. “Do we have to bathe together?”

“One of us can stand guard while the other bathes, if it bothers you that much.” Dash rolled his eyes. “C’mon, Fenton, it’s not any worse than the locker-room showers.”

“Yeah, uh, those have _stalls_.” Danny said nervously. “Outside, we’re completely exposed to each other.”

“And we’re both guys, so what’s the problem?” Dash rolled his eyes. “Seriously, why would I be interested in you? The only guy I’ve _ever_ thought about that way…” He continued muttering, walking outside, and shut the door on the identity of the only guy to apparently interest him.

Not that Danny _wanted_ to know who was unfortunate enough to actually catch his interest. As far as he knew, Dash was only interested in girls! In fact, he’d only seen him get all dreamy-eyed about—

‘Oh no. We’re not going there, nope. That is NOT a thing.’ Danny shook his head and grabbed his hygiene kit and shoes, going outside to join Dash.

“About _time_ you showed up.” Dash jeered. “What’d you do, fall asleep standing?”

“I couldn’t find my hygiene kit.” Danny lied, walking along with him to the stream. “It’s really dark…”

“Well, maybe if _someone_ hadn’t decided to get up in the early morning, we would still be asleep.” Dash rolled his eyes. “You’re lucky I woke up when I did!”

Danny pursed his lips, but chose not to answer that.

Dash noticed he still had the thermos and sighed. “Do you carry that _everywhere_?”

“Well, I can’t exactly leave it behind. What if I run into a ghost?” Danny asked.

Dash sighed and shook his head. “Okay.”

They arrived at the stream and Dash looked around. “I’ll stand guard first. By the time you’re done, the sun should be up enough to not have to worry about wolves.”

“Okay.” Danny walked over to the stream and set down his clothes and shoes, starting to unbutton his pajama shirt. “Uhm…can you turn around?”

Dash rolled his eyes and turned around, but glanced at him over his shoulder when Danny wasn’t looking. The sky was lighting up slightly, making it easier to see his scarred back. He noticed that the scars were on his legs and upper-arms as well, and he could swear that one of those wounds looked fresh, like he’d only gotten it last night! Damn, was he too late to protect his weaker cabin-mate from an attack?

“Ouch, should’ve brought a first-aid kit.” Danny mumbled as he rubbed his shoulder. It wasn’t bleeding, but it still hurt when he exposed it to the wind. “Oh well, I’ll wash it in the stream and wrap it up later.”

He looked over at Dash, who was still turned away, and removed the last of his clothing before he went into the water, biting back a yelp at its cold temperature. “It’s cold!”

“Did you expect it to be hot?” Dash asked.

“I expected it to at least be warm! It’s summer!” Danny argued.

“Summer’s just started.” Dash glanced at him. Danny had turned towards him, but didn’t notice he could see him. “It’ll be warm in a few days.” He frowned a bit, seeing scars on Danny’s front as well. ‘What kind of stuff has he been getting into? Has he really been fighting gangs?’ He thought.

“You’re not looking, are you?” Danny asked.

“Do I _look_ like I’m looking, Fenturd?” Dash rolled his eyes, glancing away.

“Well, no…but I thought I’d ask anyway.” He grabbed his hygiene kit and grabbed the soap, scrubbing himself. “At least the cold water woke me up…” He mumbled.

“You did that yourself.” Dash said. “Why were you out so late, anyway?”

“…I just woke up and wanted to take a walk.” Danny said, turning away from him. “Don’t you ever do that?”

“No, why would I? Why would _anyone_ wake up at four in the morning and just feel like taking a walk?” Dash rolled his eyes. “And all you took with you was that damn thermos. Not even shoes. Are you an idiot? Guh, Phantom really needs to pick his partners better. Between you, Manson, and Foley…what is in his head?”

‘So, he’s noticed that Tucker and Sam are always helping Phantom.’ Danny thought. ‘I wonder who else has?’ He set the soap down and grabbed the shampoo. “Well, it’s not like we have anything _else_ to do. And it’s MY house that the stupid portal opened up in! My stupid parents made that portal, and it _won’t close_! I’m _obligated_ to help!” He squirted the contents into his hand and lathered it up, covering his hair in the stuff.

Dash glanced at him again, just in time to see Danny dunk himself under. “Fenton?!” He turned to the water.

Danny poked his head up, his wind-swept hair flat down on his head by the weight of the water. “Yeah?”

“…You suddenly went under.” Dash walked over to him. He could only see his head now, the smaller teen looking up at him with confused blue eyes. “I didn’t know if you were caught on anything, okay?!”

“Oh, okay. I’m fine.” Danny assured him. “Can you turn back around?”

Dash rolled his eyes and left the waterside, turned away. Why was he so worried about him? Oh yeah, if he drowned because his foot got caught on something when he was _right there_ , he might be tried for manslaughter for letting it happen. Never mind his grade.

After a bit longer, he finally heard Danny get out and grab his towel, drying off. “Hey, do you know how to use a knife?”

“Uhm, I can use it to cut food.” Danny said as he dried himself off. “I’ll be okay, though. Not like I’m going to move from the same spot you’re in.”

“I’ll trust you to that.” Dash nodded.

After Danny dried off and dressed, they switched spots and Danny leaned against a tree, staring at the sky with the knife in his hand. It felt…odd, carrying a real weapon. The weight of it was much more than what he usually handled during meals, and the thought that this thing could do real damage to someone was just...unnerving.

He heard Dash enter the water and sighed, examining the sheathe. It had “Baxter” engraved on it, and he was sure that it was also engraved on the knife itself somewhere. Must’ve been passed down in the family like that cabin he talked about.

Passed down in the family…if there was one thing he was grateful for, it was his parents didn’t grow Blood Blossoms like his ancestor John Fenton-Nightingale. Those had to be the _worst_ anti-ghost thing he had EVER come across, bar none.

Though, he couldn’t think of what else had been passed down in the family aside from the ghost-hunting. Certainly not things like cabins or engraved knives. He was interrupted from his musing by his ghost-sense going off and groaned, glancing at Dash still in the water. He’d promised to stay right here, but what if this one would actually give him answers?

He started to leave and heard “Where are you going, Fenton?” from the water. He sighed and looked over to see Dash leaning on the bank of the stream, his blonde hair covering more of his head than usual with the water flattening it down. “You said you’d be right there. Where are you going?” Dash repeated impatiently.

“I thought I heard—“

“Nuh-uh. After this morning, you’re not leaving my sight. You stay where I can see you.” He climbed out of the water and Danny quickly shielded his eyes before he could see below Dash’s torso. “I don’t want your stupidity putting a death on my record.” Dash said firmly.

“Uh, right. Uhm, can you get dressed now?” Danny asked, still shielding his eyes. “I promise I won’t run off.”

“How do I know you’ll keep your word?” Dash asked, grabbing his towel and starting to dry off. “You skip class, you skip detention, you disappear on me, you skip school events, and now you just tried to run off _again_.” He wrapped the towel around his waist and walked over to Danny, yanking his hand down. “Why do you do that, huh? Why are you always running off?”

“Uhm…ghost?” Danny gave a sheepish shrug.

“There’s no ghost here, and even if there is you can wait for it to show up and use that thermos on it.” Dash released his wrist and walked over to his clothes, keeping an eye on Danny as he dressed.

Danny turned around but didn’t leave, knowing that the jock would stop him if he even took one step away from him. And he wasn’t relishing the idea of being grabbed by a half-naked Dash Baxter again. It was awkward enough the first time, especially after their earlier conversation.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see that Dash had finished drying and dressed, though his hair was still out of its usual style. “Let’s head back to the cabin and eat breakfast. Grab your stuff.” He nodded to it.

Danny knelt and grabbed his pajamas, hygiene kit, and thermos. Then he followed Dash back to the cabin, the knife once again in the jock’s hand.

.  
  
“Do me a favor.” Dash said when they got back to the cabin. “DON’T run off like that again, got it? You’re much too weak to handle yourself out here alone and I _don’t_ want to have to go looking every time you want to take a walk in the dark.” He grabbed the thermos and held it out of Danny’s reach. “I’m going to keep this with me, so you don’t go out ghost-hunting on your own again.”

Danny looked like he wanted to protest this, but sighed and mumbled “Yes, sir” before he walked over and threw his pajamas and hygiene kit onto his bed.

Dash nodded and went to the cooler, grabbing the pan to put more meat on it. “Go get some more firewood. If you take longer than five minutes, I’m going out looking for you.”

“Okay.” Danny went out to get the firewood. When did he start listening to what Dash told him? Oh yeah, since he was bigger, tougher, knew more about survival, and – as far as Dash knew – Danny couldn’t hold himself in a fight. This was going to be a long summer, if he had to stay by his side all the time like some leashed puppy.

Yugh, that imagery. Not going to picture THAT again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awkward bath-time is awkward.


	4. Stuck Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Danny taking off all the time, Dash resorts to desperate measures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danny Phantom (c) Butch Hartman & Nickelodeon

“So, what’s on the plan for today?” Danny asked as they ate last night’s leftover meat.

“There’s no plan.” Dash replied. “Whatever we wanna do, we do it. EXCEPT you.” He pointed an accusing finger at him. “You don’t get to do what you want to do. If you try to run off again, I’ll wail ya.”

Danny sighed, pushing his plate away and grabbing his water bottle. “Can we at least go exploring or something?” He asked, taking a swig of his water.

“Yeah, okay.” Dash nodded. “Might be a good idea to figure out this place, and the sooner the better.”

“Yes!” Danny got up.

“But the thermos stays with ME.” Dash said, raising an eyebrow.

“Guh.” Danny hung his head.

.

‘Plasmius could be doing something really sinister, and I can’t capture and interrogate any of his goons! The ones I already caught won’t tell me anything, and I can’t get new ones!’ Danny thought as he walked behind Dash.

“There’s some rocks we can use to cross the stream.” Dash pointed out. “Want to check out what’s over there?” He looked at Danny.

“Oh, sure.” Danny sighed. ‘Who knows, maybe I’ll find whatever Plasmius is doing. But I can’t fight him with Dash here…’ He thought. ‘I have to somehow get away!’

They got to the stream and Dash turned to him. “You go first, then wait on the other side.”

“Okay.” Danny nodded, crossing the rocks slowly. ‘Maybe if I slip behind a tree, I can Go Ghost and fly away. But then he’d be trying to find Danny Fenton!’ He thought. ‘How am I gonna find Plasmius?’

He got to the other side and turned to Dash, waiting for him to cross. Dash got to the other side and frowned, looking at the path ahead of them. ‘It’s pretty dark.’ He thought. ‘Should’ve brought a flashlight. I could lose Fenton in that darkness.’ He got an idea and reached in his jacket pocket. “Fenton, put out your wrist.”

“Why?” Danny asked.

“Just do it, before I whack you.” Dash rolled his eyes.

Danny sighed and held out his hand. “Fine. What, do you want to hold hands? You think I’ll get lost in the spooky dark forest?”

“Something like that.” Dash grabbed his wrist and looped a shoelace around it, making it tight enough to keep on but not too tight, then put the other loop around his own wrist. “This will keep you from running off!” He held up his wrist triumphantly, pulling Danny’s wrist with him.

“What the—why do you even _have_ an extra shoelace?!” Danny tried to pull away.

“Duh, in case my shoelace breaks! I have _two_ extra ones!” Dash replied, pulling him along. “And after all the times you’ve run off, I’m not giving you the chance to now!”

Danny sighed and glared at his shoelace-handcuff. Now he REALLY couldn’t go looking for Plasmius! Maybe he could sneak out at night and just make sure he was back by midnight?

They walked through the dark woods until Dash decided it was _too_ dark and they’d come back with a flashlight. Danny was pulled along against his will back to the stream and they crossed it to the brighter side.

“Dash, I don’t think we need the cuffs anymore.” He said, cringing as his ghost-sense went off.

“Knowing you, you’d jump in the stream to try to slip away and look for a ghost. Look, Phantom fights ghost in _Amity Park_. He’s not going be disappointed that you didn’t fill that thermos to the brim while out here!” Dash said, rolling his eyes. “He’s much better than that!”

‘Are we thinking of the same Phantom?’ Danny thought as he was pulled along.

.

“Interesting. So my little badger has a human watchdog?” Vlad Plasmius murmured, watching the two teens while invisible. “I was wondering where he went, but to find out he’s in this secluded place…” He chuckled. “Really, who would know something had happened until their parents came to pick them up? And what’s one count of collateral damage?”

He flew off, following the boys back to their destination. “A cabin in the woods? How quaint!” He remarked, watching as they seemed to bicker about something. Moving closer, he caught more of their conversation.

“—cuffs! And give me my thermos!” Danny yelled.

“It’s for your own good, Fenton! You getting lost and dying because you’re an idiot is NOT going to be on my record! We’re in this together, Fenton, for the rest of the summer! For better or for worse! I’ll remove the cuffs for now, but if you try to sneak off I am putting them back on!” Dash said firmly, opening the cabin door. “Got that?!”

“Yes.” Danny said, sighing.

“Good.” Dash removed what looked like a shoelace from around Danny’s wrist and pointed inside. “Then let’s go in. I brought along a portable Reversi set.”

“You mean you actually play a game that makes you use strategy and think?” Danny asked, going inside. Judging by his cry of pain he’d just been hit by his cabin-mate.

“Do you have ANY idea how much strategy goes into football, Fenton? It takes a _lot_ more brains than you must assume I have!” Dash snapped, shutting the door behind them.

“Very interesting.” Plasmius remarked, flying off. “I should observe them a little more. Perhaps his watchdog will take care of the boy FOR me.”

.

“You…really suck at this.” Dash said, after winning against Danny in Reversi for the fourth time in a row.

“I’ve never played this before! I play action games, not strategy games!” Danny threw his hands in the air. “Sorry that I stink!”

Dash sighed, taking all the pieces off again. “Okay, let’s play another game, then.”

“What game?” Danny asked. “Hide and seek? I’m pretty good at that!”

“No.” Dash raised an eyebrow. “You will slip away with your stupid thermos and try to get more ghosts captured. Not risking that.”

“Tag?” Danny suggested.

“Nope.” Dash shook his head.

“Then what?” Danny said, frowning.

“What other games do you know?” Dash asked. “Didn’t you play any games growing up?”

“Jazz didn’t really play many games, and my parents were always busy. I played video games most of the time.” Danny admitted. He looked at the thermos sitting on Dash’s bed. “Are you sure we can’t go look for ghosts?”

“Fighting.” Dash stood up. “That’s what we need to do. We need to make sure you know how to fight better, and with a _real_ weapon.”

“Why?” Danny asked. “The thermos works just fine against ghosts. And I can handle you okay in school.”

“Because, Fenton, someday some creep is going to attack you wanting to do more harm to you than I ever will and all you’ll have is basic self-defense and a thermos!” Dash grabbed his wrist and pulled him outside.

“What makes you think a ‘creep’ would attack me?” Danny asked. “I’m not exactly the type of most ‘creeps’.”

“You’d be surprised.” Dash closed the door and led him away from the cabin a bit. “And they might just be after your money and your life. Or maybe they’ll plan to sell you as some slave to a creep who DOES find you their type. Either way, you need to know how to actually fight hand-to-hand against someone that is much stronger than you and possibly armed with a weapon!”

‘I already do that, though…’ Danny thought, thinking of Skulker. “What brought this on, anyway?”

“You’re small, weak, and easy pickings.” Dash replied. “And besides, Tetslaff would _really_ like it if you came back and I’d taught you how to handle yourself against some thug.” He grabbed Danny’s wrist roughly. “I mean, do you LIKE it when I wail on you?”

“No!” Danny said firmly. “I don’t!”

“Then you better learn how to fight me off!” Dash said firmly. “We’ll start with you showing me what you know.”

Danny swallowed nervously. He was used to battling in the air, but it can’t be THAT much different to battle on the ground, right? He did decently with his parents’ weapons before – against ghosts, of course. Aside from the kids at school, he’d never really had to battle a human. But if it came to the Guys in White finding out who he was and he lost his powers somehow, it WOULD come in handy…

.

“Ow.” Danny groaned, lying on the ground. Okay, so land battles were way different than air battles, and not being able to turn his legs into a tail or go intangible also made it harder than his usual ghost battles.

“You gonna live?” Dash asked, offering him a water bottle.

“No, I’m dead.” Danny took the bottle. “I think I’ll live, though. This time.”

“You’re really out of shape, aren’t you?” Dash drank from his own bottle. “We might want to refill at the stream soon. Luckily I packed a water purifier.”

Danny sat up, sighing. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Dash looked at the cabin. “So, how does that thermos work, anyway?”

“Uhm…I’m…not sure. I just know it really sucks to be in there, but I can’t have the ghosts wandering around loose causing trouble.” Danny said, sipping from his bottle.

“How do you know what it’s like in there?” Dash asked.

“Uhm…Phantom…accidentally got sucked into it a few times and told me.” Danny said, rubbing his neck sheepishly. “He wasn’t very happy, was pretty exasperated by the end of that week. One of our partners was…very overzealous about being helpful and ended up just getting in the way.”

Dash snerked. “Are you _still_ working with that person?”

“Yeah. Phantom gave them a second chance, and they got better.” Danny nodded.

“He’s got a _lot_ more patience than I do, then!” Dash laughed. “Then again, I guess he _has_ to, working with _you_.”

Danny frowned. “Now, just wait a minute.” He stood up, glaring at him. “I’m perfectly fine at what I do, okay? Phantom _values_ my help, and pulls me to help even when I think he doesn’t need me! I’m not a ‘screw-up’, if that’s what you’re saying! I’m sorry I fall asleep all the damn time in class, but Phantom needs my help day and night! I’m the _only_ one in this town that cares as much about ghosts as he and my parents do, and I don’t shoot at _him_!”

“What about Foley and Manson?” Dash asked.

“ _Their_ parents don’t ghost-hunt or invent, so he can’t slip them away while their parents are distracted by something.” Danny said, shrugging. “My parents don’t check on me every night, never have. Jazz, yes, but not me.” He glanced away. “I’ve always been a bit of a shame to them. I guess I eagerly go with Phantom because he actually proves that I’m _worth_ something.”

Dash didn’t know what to say to that and silently turned to the cabin. “…Let’s go back in. Sky looks overcast, might get a summer storm.”

“Storm?” Danny paled and walked in behind Dash.

Dash glanced back at him. A human fighting ghosts day and night…maybe that was why he was so badly scarred up. He had to wonder how scarred up Foley and Manson actually were.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh, storms make Danny jittery.


	5. Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny has a fear of lightning, though he hides it well....usually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danny Phantom (c) Butch Hartman & Nickelodeon

“So, uh, storm coming. Do we have time to go hunting for more food?” Danny asked as he sat on his bed.

“Maybe, not sure.” Dash admitted. “But if not, we have a bit of meat left and berries. I’m gonna go bring in some extra firewood, wet wood doesn’t burn well.” He pointed at him. “Stay.”

“Right.” Danny nodded, watching his cabin-mate step out. He looked at the thermos sitting on Dash’s bed and sighed, laying back on his own. Telling Dash that he’d been helping Phantom had not convinced him to let him have the thermos back, and he’d even insisted “Phantom’s not here, so take a break for the summer!” before shoving him onto his own bed and tossing the thermos onto the other.

He had to admit, Dash was efficient. And when he wasn’t trying to wail on you, he might actually make a decent friend. He’d thought he’d have to hold back during the training session, but Dash was really strong and Danny had mostly air-battle experience and was clumsy on the ground.

Heck, he’d always been clumsy. Being able to fly had been a blessing, and was one of the reasons he couldn’t bear to give up his powers. He would be happy to give up all of his attack ability if he could still go invisible, go intangible, and fly. To have the perks of a ghost, without all the fighting…

But he had to fight. Amity Park was in danger of ghost attacks because of his stupid mistake.

.

Dash gathered the wood, thinking of his smaller cabin-mate. There had to be something more to his devotion to Phantom, and it was true that he had always found Phantom anywhere that Danny showed up. It was like they were…attached, somehow.

That was just bizarre a thought. If Phantom was overshadowing Danny, he would’ve seen some kind of sign of it by now. He finished gathering wood and walked inside, just as rain begin to fall on the ground outside.

He found Danny curled up with the thermos, his gaze unreadable. Dash sighed and set the wood by the shelf, turning to him. “Are you _that_ upset that you can’t go hunt ghosts?”

“It’s the only thing I can actually do _right_ …” Danny mumbled.

Dash walked over and plucked the thermos from his hands. “Well, I haven’t seen any ghosts around here. C’mon, let’s sit in front of the fire. I packed stuff for s’mores, if you want any.”

“…Sure.” Danny got off his bed and walked to the woodstove. Dash reached into his pack and pulled out another cooler. He carried it over to the woodstove and grabbed a plate to put the treat on.

They opened the stove and roasted marshmallows as the storm got worse outside. As the wind got harder and the rain started to really pour, Dash left the fire to grab the blanket from his bed, wrapping it around himself.

Danny stared blankly into the flames, trying not to think of the electrifying thunder outside. He’d never admit it to anyone, but he was terrified of the thought of being electrocuted again. As the sky lit up with lightning, his eyes shot wide open and he darted under the bed, trembling.

“Fenton?” Dash looked over at him, lowering the blanket.

“Go away. I’m fine. Go away.” Danny said from under the bed. As the thunder and lightning clashed again, though, he let out a high whimper.

Dash looked at the window and sighed, getting up and walking over to the beds. “You don’t like storms?”

“No, I just…” Danny faltered. How could he possibly lie about this one? The evidence of his fear was right in front of Dash, and even if the guy _wasn’t_ smarter than Danny ever gave him credit for, he was too smart to believe that blatant and stupid lie.

Dash sighed and held out a hand. “C’mon. As your cabin-mate, I have to keep you relatively sane. Let’s get back to the fire.”

Danny stared at his hand cautiously and slowly took it, letting the jock pull him out from under the bed. They returned to the fire and Danny stared into the flames silently again, his arms wrapped around himself.

Dash sat down with his blanket again and glanced at him. “…You cold?”

Danny shook his head. “I’m fine. I’m just…startled.”

“You’re shivering.” Dash commented.

“I’m _fine_.” Danny insisted.

Dash shrugged and put together his s’more, glancing at him. Danny hadn’t put one together yet, just stared into the flames. It was kind of creepy. He could see that the teen was shivering, though, and decided that if Danny got pneumonia then he would have no way of treating him and the smaller teen would die out here. Sighing, he got up and walked over to Danny.

Danny barely noticed the movement near him before he felt a cloth drape over his body and an arm wrap around his side. “W-Wha?!” He looked at Dash, his eyes wide.

“Do me a favor and don’t tell Phantom about this.” Dash said, staring straight ahead at the fire. “I don’t want him thinking I have eyes for you or anything. It’s just less trouble to share my already-warm blanket than to get your cold one.”

“Right. This will be our secret, because this is just too weird.” Danny said, nodding firmly at he looked at the fire again. ‘Riiiight, me keeping a secret from Phantom. He has no idea how impossible that is.’ He thought.

“I have a question.” Dash said suddenly.

“Huh?” Danny looked at him.

“If you fight ghosts with Manson and Foley…how do you manage not to get your asses kicked? I mean, even working with Phantom, directly fighting a ghost is pretty much suicide.” Dash looked at him.

Danny glanced away. “We’re…distractions. While the ghosts try to attack all three of us, he does the big blows. We just use little weapons and hold onto the Thermos until he needs it. You remember when that pirate ship took all the adults?”

“Yeah, you vanished on us.” Dash raised an eyebrow.

“They threw me overboard. I would’ve died if Phantom hadn’t caught me just in time. He made sure I was hidden away and then went to take care of the trouble.” Danny curled up tighter. “I know I’m a burden to…just about everyone. Even Phantom must find me one sometimes. But he still gives me a chance, and doesn’t yell at me or call me worthless or hit me. That’s why I’m so upset about not being able to fight ghosts while out here. I know they’re there. I’ve seen them, heard them. I can’t just leave them to wa—“ A clash of thunder and the following lightning lit up the cabin and his eyes shot wide open before he clung to the closest thing – which was Dash’s chest.

“…Yeah, okay.” Dash sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder, pushing him off as gently as he could. “Again, not telling Phantom, right?”

“Duh.” Danny pulled away, blushing furiously. How could he have clung to DASH of all people?! He was only being nice to him because they were cabin-mates, and after they returned to school everything would be back to normal.

Dash sighed and looked at the fire again. “Can you sing?”

“No.” Danny shook his head. “I mean…I’ve never really tried.”

“What, no carols or anything?” Dash looked at him.

“…I hate carols.” Danny mumbled, glancing away.

Dash shrugged. “Camp-songs?”

“Most of the camps I’ve gone to, there wasn’t much singing. Not traditional camp-songs, and I had an instrument.” Danny admitted.

“You play?” Dash blinked. “What instrument?”

“Uhm, the pan-flute…a hand-drum…I’ve started picking up guitar.” Danny counted one his fingers. “Not that I’ve had much time to actually practice lately.”

“I’m guessing you didn’t bring any with you.” Dash said, smirking.

“I didn’t think I’d have time to. Especially since I expected to be dodging your fists 24/7.” Danny looked at him. “You being nice to me wasn’t really in my list of possibilities.”

Dash bopped his head. “Well, we’re stuck together for the whole summer. We have to TRY to get along long enough to get a good grade. After we’re done, then we can go back to our usual routine.”

Danny rubbed his head, frowning. “Yeah, I guess we can.” He looked at the fire again. The thunder sounded again and Danny stiffened up, his gaze darting to the window.

Dash sighed and ate his s’more quietly, the crackling fire being the only one to dare to break the silence. Just as Danny started to doze off, the thunder sounded again and he looked at the window again, gripping the blanket tightly. Dash noticed this and pulled the blanket tight around them, pulling Danny closer. He started to hum something, but Danny couldn’t place the tune and didn’t want to interrupt him by asking.

It was a nice tune, and Danny found himself actually focusing on it instead of the sound of the thunder. Whatever it was, it was long enough that by the time Dash was done Danny had slumped against him half-asleep.

Dash looked at him and sighed, shaking his head. “Don’t go to sleep, Fenturd. We still have to eat dinner and fill out our logs.”

“Mm…” Danny sat up and rubbed at his eyes. “Right…sorry.” He got up, shaking off the sleepiness from his body.

Dash got up as well, carrying his blanket over to the bed and putting it back on it before he went to their meat cache. “Do you always get clingy during storms?”

“…Not always.” Danny mumbled. He had always managed to handle storms while in his Phantom form, even fought in a huge one, he was just terrified of them in his human form and he couldn’t change around Dash.

“Well, do you think you can put wood on the fire without burning yourself?” Dash asked as he put the meat on the pan.

“Sure, I can do that.” Danny gathered up the wood and went to the fire, carefully putting it in the flames.

Dash watched him to make sure he wouldn’t burn himself, then carried the pan to the stove. “Good. I have treatment for burns, but I don’t want to use it on you.”

Danny closed the door of the woodstove and got up, dusting off his hands. “If nothing else, being involved with Phantom and his fights has taught me how to be cautious around dangerous things.”

“Then why do you pick fights with ghosts?” Dash asked.

“Ghosts don’t live out here. They live in the Ghost Zone. They shouldn’t be out here.” Danny walked over to the bed, jumping when the thunder sounded again, followed right away by a lightning flash. “Yeek!”

“That was pretty close.” Dash remarked.

“Yeah, and this cabin is _wood_.” Danny said nervously, his eyes darting around.

“Relax, Fentina. The odds of us actually being hit are a billion to one.” Dash rolled his eyes and went back to his cooking.

“Yeah, it’s the ‘one’ I’m concerned about.” Danny said, grabbing the thermos from Dash’s bed and moving back to the fire.

Dash noticed what he was holding and sighed. “What, is that thing a security blanket to you?” He asked.

“It protects me from ghosts, it’s a thing my parents made, and it’s a thing that my parents told me to keep on me. So, yes, it gives me some comfort. Especially since it’s a piece of home in this backwater place.” Danny said, looking at the thermos. “I mean, you always wear that jacket all the time. I’ve never seen you take it off except for changing for bed.”

“That’s true.” Dash smirked a bit. He hadn’t even taken it off to cook, just pushed up the sleeves.

Danny nodded. “So, no more nagging me about the thermos?”

“As long as you don’t run off to find ghosts, yes.” Dash nodded.

“Well, I’m not going anywhere in this storm.” Danny said nervously, looking at the rain-splattered window.

Dash nodded. “Good to hear that you have a _brain_ , Fenturd.”

Danny pouted at him and then curled up with the thermos held tighter. He hated having to wait out the storm!

.

Dinner went relatively peacefully, with the thunder as background music for the meal. Danny jolted every time he saw lightning and Dash had to grab his hand to keep him from bolting for under the bed again.

“We have to fill out our logs.” Dash commented. “Don’t forget to do that before you go to sleep, Fenton.”

“Yeah.” Danny nodded, his eyes wide as he stared at his empty plate. “I should…go do that now.” He got up and went to grab his log, heading to the woodstove to write in the warmth of the fire.

Dash cleared the table and stored the leftovers before he went to grab his own log and joined Danny at the woodstove. They both wrote quietly, reflecting on the day.

Dash had given Danny basic self-defense lessons and royally creamed him, and had only really hurt him during that session. Otherwise it was casual bops on the head that didn’t hurt any more than some of Sam’s. They both decided to leave out the part about the shoelace-cuffs, and reflected on how their relationship had progressed.

Danny thought that Dash had shown he could actually be nice if he really wanted to. Maybe, just maybe, they could be friends if this kept up. If peer pressure allowed, that is.

Dash thought that Danny was finally coming out of his sulky shell and showing his true self that wasn’t hiding behind a slouching, moody nerd. Also, knowing about his helping Phantom and his obligation to the city because of the portal opening in his basement actually made so much more sense than Dash’s initial “gang trouble” theory about those scars. He still hadn’t confronted him about them, and he wondered why Manson and Foley weren’t half as scarred. Could it be because Phantom just didn’t bring them into his battles as often?

He’d only had the pleasure of working with Phantom once, and he knew that he could be a bit of a slave-driver at times, even a little condescending. But it was hard to imagine Phantom coming to Danny Fenton’s bed in the middle of the night and taking him away like Peter Pan to go fight ghosts with him. It just didn’t add up, like there was more to the story. Why would Phantom single Danny out? It couldn’t just be because of the portal. Was it because his parents were ghost hunters, so he was making Danny clean up their mess like some twisted ghostly community service?

He decided to finally write that he had started to see Danny in a new light and maybe, just maybe, he wouldn’t be wailing on him so often at home. Short, simple, and didn’t mention a thing about his real worries.

“Okay, I’m done.” Danny said, closing his log.

“Me too.” Dash nodded, closing his. “Let’s head to bed, Fenton.”

Danny nodded, getting up and going to his dresser to pick out his pajamas, setting the log on the desk. “Don’t look.” He told him.

“I’m not.” Dash assured him, but he couldn’t help but glance over as Danny removed his clothes and revealed his scarred body. ‘Damn, that’s a lot of scars.’ He thought.

Danny finished changing and climbed into bed, holding the Thermos close to him. “Your turn.”

Dash got up and walked over, setting the log on the desk and picking out his own pajamas. “Tomorrow, if the weather’s good, we’ll wash our clothes. I packed a clothesline, so we’ll set it up before we go.”

“Okay.” Danny said, facing the wall so he wouldn’t see Dash changing. “Sounds good.”

“G’night, Fenton.” Dash finished changing and then climbed into bed before he drifted off, the rain and thunder outside lulling him to sleep.

He was abruptly woken by the cabin shaking a bit when he heard a particularly loud thunder crash, the cabin lighting up from the lightning right outside. Right away, he felt something dart under his covers and looked over his shoulder to see Danny clinging to the back of his shirt. “…Fenton?” He asked.

“…Sorry. Just until the storm passes…can I share your bed?” Danny asked quietly.

Dash slowly turned to him, Danny releasing his hold on his shirt. “…You’re really scared, aren’t you?”

“…I just…feel safer with you than by myself. That’s not so weird, is it?” Danny glanced away.

Dash sighed and draped an arm over Danny, pulling him closer. “Alright, but this is a one-time thing. Now go to sleep, Fentina.”

Danny closed his eyes. “Thank you, Dash.” He said quietly.

Dash sighed and closed his eyes, listening to the smaller boy’s steady breathing. He made sure that Danny was fast asleep before letting sleep take him again, the fire glowing and warming the room against the cold of the rain.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cuddle times!
> 
> ((A/N: Nasty-bad storms scare me too, Danny.))


	6. What're You Doing Out Here?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny has to find out what Vlad is up to, so he takes different measures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danny Phantom (c) Butch Hartman & Nickelodeon

The next morning, Danny woke up first and made sure Dash was still asleep before phasing through the bed silently. He went to the dresser and grabbed his clothes, changing quickly but quietly. Then he put on his shoes and jacket, grabbed the thermos, and checked on Dash again before he went invisible, phasing through the wall to get outside.

The grass was wet, as expected, but the sky was sunny. He looked back at the cabin before heading into the woods, going deep enough he couldn’t be seen from the cabin. “Okay…in order for me to continue what I was doing before he started leashing me, I’m going to have to make a double to play as Danny Fenton.” He mumbled, changing into Phantom and forming a double. “Okay, double. Change into Danny Fenton.”

The double did as it was told, changing back. Danny was actually glad that he’d been secretly practicing this double thing in his bedroom, even if it did lead to sleepless nights. There was NO WAY he was going to use the Fenton Ghostcatcher again, not after last summer’s confusion! “Okay, I’m going to look for signs of what Plasmius is up to, and you’ll be keeping Dash distracted.”

“How?” The double asked.

“I dunno, if I _knew_ then _you_ would already know! He wanted to do laundry today, so do that with him. I’ll see what you see, so if I need you to do anything I’ll send a mental command.” Danny said, nodding firmly.

“Aaaaalright.” The double gave an exasperated look.

“Fenton?!”

“Oh, shoot.” Danny cringed as he and the double both looked over.

.

Great, just great! Somehow the idiot had slipped out of his bed without Dash noticing and gotten outside with that thermos again! Screw their agreement; he was going to WAIL him when he saw him again!

“—need you to do anything, I’ll send a mental command.”

What the…was that PHANTOM he was hearing?! Dash ran over to where he’d heard it and gaped. “Fenton?!”

Phantom, apparently, had come to the woods to talk to Danny. How did he even know where they were? He’d heard something about a “mental connection”…weird. Phantom was holding the thermos and Danny was standing across from him, fidgeting with his coat awkwardly as Dash stared at them.

“…Hi, Dash.” Danny finally said sheepishly.

Phantom sighed and slapped a palm to his face. “Well, so much for not being seen. I’m going to head off, Danny. I’ll return the thermos later.” He flew into the air.

“Wait!” Dash ran over to them. “How did you even FIND us?!”

Phantom looked down at them, blinking. “I actually followed the Fenton RV when he was first dropped off here. After deciding he was safe enough, I returned to Amity Park.”

“So, why are you here now?” Dash asked.

Phantom’s gaze darkened. “One of my greatest foes is around here. I found out that some of his followers were doing something and came to investigate.” He said calmly.

“Wait…so, do you two actually have a mental connection? Did I hear that right?” Dash asked. “I mean, you must’ve learned from Fenton, right?”

“…How much did you hear?” Danny asked, looking at him.

“Just that if he needed you to do anything, he’d send a mental command.” Dash said, shrugging.

The two exchanged looks before Phantom sighed. “Yes. Yes, we do. Can I trust you not to tell anyone about it?”

“Duh!” Dash said excitedly. “I can totally help out, if you want! I’ve been really looking forward to working with you again!”

Phantom looked thoughtful. “Okay. If you want to help, I guess there’s no reason I can’t let you. But I only have this one thermos here, so if you see ghost activity don’t go after it. Just let Danny tell me about it and I’ll check it out. Got it?”

“Yeah!” Dash nodded excitedly.

“Good.” Phantom nodded. “I’m going to go check things out, then. You guys can head back to the cabin. Keep a sharp eye out, but don’t jump into combat.” He gave them both a stern look. “No matter _how_ much you _both_ seem to want to _impress_ me, I’m _not_ going to be happy if you’re _stupid_ and go against my _direct_ _orders_.”

Danny rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and nodded. Dash kicked at the ground before he also nodded, his hands in his jacket pockets.

“I’ll be around, so just send a message if you see anything, Danny.” He flew off, leaving the two humans alone.

“Wow.” Dash sighed. “I guess…that explains a few things.”

Danny looked at him. “Yeah…I guess it does.” He mumbled. “You weren’t…supposed to see him, though.”

Dash turned to the cabin. “Let’s head back to the cabin.”

.

“Well, wasn’t _that_ creative.” Plasmius remarked as he watched the trio part ways through a camera from one of his tracking devices. “So it seems that I can’t just leave the human to take care of Daniel for me. And now that he’s got his double out, he’ll be able to be more active in his search for what I’m up to.” He sat back in his seat, sighing. “Well, Daniel, two can play at that game. I’ll send a double to play with you and toy with your double, and see if you can tell the difference.” He chuckled darkly.

.

Back in the cabin, Dash and Danny were gathering up the laundry in a basin to take to the stream. “So, how long have you had the mental connection?” He asked Danny, looking at him.

“Uhm…a while. Not sure if you remember, but about a month before Phantom first appeared, I was in the hospital from an accident in my parents’ lab? That was when I opened the portal.” Danny explained. “Phantom and I first met there, and he saved my life. That’s when we got the mental connection.”

“Wow.” Dash nodded, going to his bag. “That’s pretty cool. I mean, you got to see Phantom before anyone.”

“Yeah. He just kind of hung around me during that month, making sure I was okay. The way he saved me was, uhm…well, it can sometimes lead to death, so he was making sure that didn’t happen.” Danny admitted. “He put ectoplasm into my body so I would heal, but the hospital’s scanners never detected it. If my parents ever scanned me…well…” He rubbed the back of his neck and looked to the side.

Dash grinned, walking back over to him with a rolled up clothesline. “I get ya. So that’s another thing to not tell your parents, huh?”

“Yeah. Just to be safe, don’t tell my parents, Tetslaff, or anyone else about Phantom being here, our connection, or anything else. It’s a secret, alright?” Danny looked at him. “We’re both _really_ trusting you, Dash. Can we trust you?”

Dash reached over and rubbed Danny’s head, mussing up his hair. “Relax, Fentina. I may wail on you, but I’m not going to do anything that could get you killed. I can keep a secret. Even Kwan won’t know this one.”

Danny nodded, though he looked disgruntled at the hair-mussing. “Thanks. If nothing else, you’ll do it for Phantom. I know you really like him.”

Dash smirked and went outside to set up the clothesline. “He’s an awesome guy, Fenton. I think the only ones who _don’t_ like him are the adults who don’t like that a kid is upstaging them and the ghost hunters.”

Danny sighed, waiting with the basin. Now that Phantom had made an appearance in front of Dash, he would be talking about nothing else!

.

“Okay, so that guy is also useless. How can Plasmius have so many ghosts doing things for him, but not actually tell them what it’s for?!” Phantom groaned, shaking his head.

“Because, Daniel, the smart move is to hire a bunch of imbeciles and not tell them anything.” Plasmius said as he appeared behind Phantom. Phantom gasped and turned to him, forming an attack in his hands.

“What are you up to here, Plasmius?” Phantom asked, frowning.

“Oh, please. Who do I look like, Technus? Do you honestly expect me to announce all my secret plans to you, just because you demand it?” Plasmius raised an eyebrow.

Phantom looked thoughtful. “…Well, it was worth a shot.” He fired a blast at him. “I’ll just have to beat it out of you, then!”

Plasmius put up a shield to block the attacks. “Really, Daniel, why does it even _concern_ you? It’s not in Amity Park, and I’m not attacking you or your silly human friends. Just go on your merry way and let me do what I want here.”

“You know that I can’t do that, Plasmius.” Phantom said firmly. “If you’re planning to hurt anyone, anywhere, then I have to stop you.”

“And when, my dear boy, did ‘I have to protect my father from you’ change to ‘I have to stop you from whatever you’re doing because it just _might_ hurt someone?” Plasmius cackled. “You’re letting your superhero mindset make you forget what _really_ matters. I’m leaving you and your pathetic little city _alone_ for once, you should be _glad_!”

“Plasmius, I can’t let you hurt people the way you have been anymore!” Phantom snapped. “You have to stop! How can you be such a terrible person?!”

“Because, Phantom, people hurt others to get ahead. And it’s not like you’re completely innocent. I know of how long Walker has declared for you in his prison.” Plasmius jeered. “One thousand years? Really, boy.”

“You deserve more! I just broke a rule by accident, but you hurt so many people! Why hasn’t he arrested you!?” Danny demanded.

“Because of one simple fact, boy. I don’t attack other ghosts and pick fights with them assuming they’re up to no good as soon as they leave the Ghost Zone! You thought that he gave you one thousand years for one rule broken? You go into the Ghost Zone and pick fights all the time, even if things are peaceful in your city!” Plasmius flew around Phantom, forcing him to turn to keep eye-contact. “You’re **addicted** to battle, and because you feel it’s _wrong_ to attack humans, you attack ghosts! I harm humans because it gets my _human_ side ahead in life. I don’t attack my fellow ghosts unless they attack me first. Have you ever tried basic diplomacy? And I don’t mean demanding to know what they’re ‘up to’ before you blast them.”

“That’s not true!” Phantom snapped. “They—“

“No? That’s not what I’ve heard from Ghostwriter. You were so upset about Christmas that you went into the Ghost Zone to pick a fight on the day when no one actually wanted to fight.” Plasmius smirked. “You’re losing sight of yourself, Daniel.”

“That was an _accident_ , and he was the one who decided to turn it into a fight!” Phantom clenched his fists.

“Regardless, you are going out of your way _looking_ for trouble, then complaining about ghosts showing up and ruining your day or making you lose sleep. Even now, when you _could_ be resting, you’re sneaking off and using a double to dupe that human you’re with!” Plasmius smirked. “Don’t you realize, Daniel, that there could be consequences for your actions? Had you not started messing with my helpers, I would have let you be. But now?”

“What are you going to do?” Phantom asked, his eyes widening.

“Just remember that you’re not the _only_ one that can make a double.” Plasmius said as he disappeared with a chuckle.

“…Dash!” Phantom gasped, flying off towards where he could sense his own double.

.

“Watch out!” Dash pulled Danny to the side as a pink blast shot at the ground. “What is that?!”

“Plasmius!” Danny said as he scrambled to his feet. “We have to run! We can’t fight him, Dash!”

“Does Phantom know he’s here?” Dash asked.

“I told him, yeah, but he was engaged in another battle! He’s coming now!” Danny grabbed Dash’s hand and pulled him along into the woods. “C’mon!”

Dash looked up at the blue-skinned tunic-wearing ghost and shook his head. “Why is he out here?!”

“Don’t know; don’t care at the moment, just run. Phantom will handle him!” Danny said anxiously.

“Will the thermos help?” Dash asked. “Should we have kept that?”

“No, Phantom has never been able to get Plasmius into a thermos!” Danny shook his head, ducking to the side when a blast landed near them. “You remember when he said one of his greatest foes was here? That’s Plasmius!”

They reached a fork and Danny shoved Dash down a path. “Go that way! If we split up, he’ll only go after one of us!” He said firmly.

“Wait, which one will that be?!” Dash asked, looking at him.

Danny didn’t reply, just pursed his lips grimly before he ran down the other path.

“Fenton!” Dash ran to follow him, but quickly lost track of him. This was a part of the woods that they hadn’t explored yet, he didn’t know back from front here! “Fenton, where are you?!”

“Dash!” Phantom flew into view and fired at Plasmius. “Get into a hiding place! I’ll take care of him!”

“I can’t find Fenton!” Dash told him.

“He’s safe, don’t worry! Just get into a hiding place!” Phantom snapped, forming a shield.

Dash nodded and ran on, looking around for any sign of Danny. He couldn’t see him anywhere!

The sounds of battle died down behind him and he finally stopped to rest, slumping against a tree and sliding against it to the floor. He prided himself on his running skills, but he wasn’t usually running for his life! Come to think of it, wasn’t he running for the life the last time he was with Phantom, too? Must be a common occurrence…

After a while, he heard the bushes rustle and grabbed his knife, looking around cautiously. Just as he was about to strike, he saw a familiar shoe step out and lowered his knife. “Fenton!”

“Dash! I told you to run the other way!” Danny looked out of breath and a little scratched up. “Are you okay?!”

Dash sheathed his knife and got up. “I wasn’t going to leave you to be chased by yourself! That guy would’ve killed you!”

“More likely he would’ve killed you and captured me to use against Phantom.” Danny said, glancing away. “Are you okay, though? Did he hit you?”

“Phantom showed up and protected me.” Dash sighed, looking down. “I was just in his way by hanging around, wasn’t I?”

“Yeah, we pretty much learned that when he says ‘get out of here’, we just book it.” Danny said helpfully.

“Think it’s safe? I don’t hear the battle anymore.” Dash looked at where they’d come from.

“Let’s just wait for him to give us the okay.” Danny said, sitting down by the tree Dash was next to. “He’ll let us know as soon as it’s safe.”

Dash sighed and sat next to him. “…Are we really safe here?”

“As safe as we can be. If trouble happens, we just run. He’ll help when he can.” Danny looked at a wound on his arm. “Yeesh. That might take a little while to heal…”

Dash frowned at it. “Do you get banged up like that a lot?”

“Yeah. Comes with the job.” Danny shrugged, putting his hand over his arm. “Luckily, thanks to the ectoplasm, I heal pretty quickly.”

Dash was about to say something when they heard the trees rustle. He got up quickly and pulled out his knife, preparing to fight. “What is it? A ghost?!”

“Well, yeah. But not a dangerous one.” Phantom said, coming in through the foliage before he turned tangible. “Plasmius was chased off, for now. You might want to be careful, though.”

“Why was he chasing us?” Dash asked.

Phantom sighed, placing a hand on his head. “Because bad guys attack people close to you when you’re getting in their way. Let’s head back to the stream and pick up your basin. I’ll go back to the cabin with you guys and provide protection.”

“Thanks, Phantom.” Danny said as he got up.

Phantom frowned at his wound. “You’ll really want that cleaned up and bandaged.”

“I know.” Danny sighed, nodding.

They made their way back to the stream and Dash picked up the basin full of their freshly-washed clothes, nodding for the others to follow. “So, what is that guy up to, anyway?” Dash asked.

“Don’t know. I was trying to find out when he decided I was prying too much and went to attack you guys. You’re lucky that his double didn’t find you while I was fighting him.” Phantom shook his head. “I’ll find out, though. With Plasmius, it’s never good news when he’s doing something suspicious in the woods. Or anywhere, really.”

Dash nodded. He had so many questions he wanted to ask Phantom, but he wasn’t sure how to word them. How had they managed to hide their connection so well? Did he have a connection with Manson and Foley, or just Fenton? Since he gave him his ectoplasm, – like a blood transfusion, maybe? – that might be why they had the mental connection.

They arrived at the cabin and Phantom held open the door for them. “Get his wound fixed up, would you? I’ll set up a shield out here.” He turned to start focusing on the shield.

Dash set down on the basin by the clothesline and took Danny in to treat his wound. He could see the view outside the window changing to a green-tinted one, and realized that he must’ve put the shield around the entire cabin. “He’s gotten really strong, huh?” He commented.

Danny nodded, holding his arm out so Dash could treat it. “Yeah, he keeps gaining new powers.”

Dash nodded, pulling out an antiseptic wipe from the first-aid kit and carefully cleaning the wound. Danny flinched and clenched his teeth, but Dash’s hold on his wrist kept him from running off or even pulling away.

Outside, Phantom sat on top of the cabin and sighed. ‘Well. This was an interesting development.’ He thought, looking up at the green-tinted sky. ‘Seems that Phantom is joining Danny and Dash for the summer, since Plasmius is targeting them as long as I’m checking out what he’s up to out here.’

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dash is such a fanboy.


	7. Same

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plasmius progresses with his plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danny Phantom (c) Butch Hartman & Nickelodeon

Dash sighed and looked over at Danny’s vacant bed. After dinner, Phantom had taken him to the roof to talk privately. He set down the knife-sharpener and put his knife away, heading for the door.

“Phantom?” He called as he stepped out into the night. “Phantom, Fenton needs to get some sleep tonight.”

Phantom looked over the edge of the roof at him. “Just a bit longer. We’re watching the stars. You can join us, if you want.”

“How? I can’t climb up.” Dash looked around.

“Hold on.” Phantom disappeared from view and then he saw him fly down, landing behind Dash. “Alright, take my hand.”

“Okay.” Dash took his hand and gasped as he was effortlessly lifted. He’d never been carried by Phantom by himself before, not since that time when Phantom was losing his powers, and it was a bit of a shock that such a small guy could lift him so easily.

Phantom landed him on the roof carefully before landing himself. Danny looked over at Dash and gave a small nod of greeting before he looked at the sky again. Even green-tinted, the sky was full of stars. Dash walked over and sat next to Danny, looking up at the sky as well.

Phantom joined them, standing next to them and looking up, thinking. He didn’t want to admit that what Plasmius had said was getting to him….but, well, it was getting to him. A lot. Sighing, he looked at the two teens next to him. “…Hey, do you think I’m addicted to battle?”

“Huh?” Dash looked at him. “Where’d that come from?”

“Plasmius said that I was. That I go out of my way to find ghosts not because I want to protect, but because I’m addicted to battle and won’t hurt humans.” Phantom glanced away. “I wanted to know what you thought.”

“Plasmius is an old fruitloop. He’s just trying to get to you.” Danny remarked, not looking away from the stars.

“From what I’ve seen, you only fight to protect.” Dash smiled. “Even now, you fought to protect us.”

“If I hadn’t been trying to find out what he was up to out here, you would’ve never been attacked in the first place.” Phantom clenched his fists.

“That’s not true.” Danny sighed. Was he REALLY going to have to reassure _himself_? He was trying to enjoy the stars! “Plasmius would’ve attacked us just because we got ‘too close’ or something. I’m my dad’s son; he’ll find any reason to hurt me.”

“Why?” Dash looked at Danny.

“Plasmius hates my dad for something that happened twenty years ago.” Danny explained. “And with me close to both my dad and Phantom, well, he’s bound to attack me sometime.”

Phantom pursed his lips and looked up at the sky. “…Guess you have a point.”

“You’re not addicted to battle.” Danny looked at Phantom finally. “You’re addicted to protecting people. Even if you have nothing to do with them, you want to protect people. It’s your…’obsession’.” He looked at the stars again. “If I had your powers, I’d be doing the same thing. Even if I don’t matter, others do. I’ll take the blows for them.”

Dash looked at Danny silently, thinking of how many times he’d wailed on Danny in school when he told him off for bullying a nerd or two. Eventually, he just started going after Danny before anyone else to save them both some time.

He wondered just how much of Danny’s life Phantom knew, thanks to their psychic connection. If they’d really been connected since before he first appeared, it made sense that he had been trying to convince Paulina to date Danny instead of hitting on him, and why he was always showing up wherever Danny was. And, thinking about it, there was that time when the ghost king was attacking and Danny’s eyes had flashed green when Dash was blocking his way just to mess with him.

“Hey…have you ever, uh, possessed Fenton?” Dash asked, looking at Phantom.

“I wondered why you looked so weirdly thoughtful.” Danny mumbled.

Phantom blinked, looking down at him. “Uhm…yeah. Yeah, I have, actually. Frequently, really.”

“I’m his ‘vessel’.” Danny said calmly. “Most of the ghost-detecting equipment can’t sense him while he’s overshadowing me – it’s called overshadowing, not possessing – and he can slip in and out of barriers in my body. He often overshadows me at school, but I’m still in control when he does that – at least until he feels the need to do something, like overshadow someone else to make them slam into a locker so they’ll leave me alone so I can go out where the ghost army is walking.”

“Funny, I was just thinking of that.” Dash remarked.

“I figured. It was the most drastic he’d done, because he was in a hurry.” Danny looked at him. “Most of the time you don’t recall his overshadowing, but that was weird enough the A-listers would’ve mentioned it for sure.”

“Hm…and, uh, the sniffing my mom’s feet thing?” Dash looked at Phantom.

“Danny was trying to flirt with Paulina, you were in the way, and you picked on Danny to get _in_ his way. I decided to prank you.” Phantom smirked at him. “Wow, things really stick with you, huh?”

“ _Bizarre_ things.” Dash rubbed his head. “I guess I was a jerk, huh?”

“Yeah, but it was in your nature. I’m not going to fault you for it. Just be prepared for me to retaliate in some way.” Phantom looked at the sky again.

Dash sighed, looking at the sky again. He heard movement beside him and noticed Danny had started lying down on the roof, using one of Phantom’s boots as a pillow. “Isn’t that uncomfortable?”

“Not really.” Danny looked up at Phantom. “Is it?”

“Barely noticed it.” Phantom replied. “I could give you my lap if you want.”

“Nah.” Danny crossed his arms behind his head.

Dash sighed and leaned back on his hands, looking up again. After a bit, he decided to lie down as well. It was more comfortable, after all.

They stayed like that for the next few hours, until finally Phantom nudged Danny’s head and said, “You should head to bed. I’ll be keeping watch, so you don’t have to worry.”

“’Kay.” Danny pushed himself into a sitting position and tapped Dash’s shoulder before he stood up and dusted himself off. “Dash, time to go.”

Phantom looked at Dash fast asleep and smiled a bit. “I’ll bring him down, don’t worry.”

“Well, then I don’t need to be human to go down.” Danny rolled his eyes and changed form, flying down into the cabin.

“I’m not _that_ much of a prick, am I?” Phantom mumbled, watching his double fly inside. Then he knelt next to Dash and lifted him into his arms, making sure not to wake him, and flew inside with him.

.

“Well, it seems my threat did its job.” Plasmius cackled as he watched them through a camera. “He’s not leaving the boy’s side. Having your double out all the time can be _so_ exhausting, my boy, take it from me.” He set down his wine glass and sighed. “Even now, I have a double running your pathetic little city. I must keep up appearances, after all.” He smirked and got up from his chair, walking out of the room.

“With Daniel preoccupied, it gives me time to finish what I’m doing here.” He stepped out of his house on the other side of the woods and flew over the woods to a place he’d cleared out of trees and instead filled with all kinds of machinery.

“At last.” He breathed. “The Ectostone. A limitless supply of ghost energy.” He flew down and landed next to where his minions had pulled out the large stone with his machinery before they all cleared out. “A human couldn’t handle this, no, too powerful. It’d be completely toxic. A ghost, or half-ghost, however…” He reached out and touched it, letting out a soft moan of pleasure as he felt the power go into his core. “Ahhh, yes. With this, I can have power to rival Pariah Dark, without even taking his crown or ring. I can defeat him properly with this much power!” He pulled his hand away, chuckling as he felt the power pulsating in his hand. “I could rule not only the Ghost Zone, but the human world, with this much power.”

Plasmius pulled out a device he’d brought along and placed it against the stone, setting up identical ones along its side. “If these work, as they should…” He mumbled, moving back and pushing a button on a bracelet he wore. The devices glowed, the stone shook, and then the stone started to shrink down into a much smaller size, until it was finally the size of a pendant. “Perfect.” He smiled and picked it up, cackling as he discovered its power had not been diminished by its smaller size. “Oh, Daniel.” He held it up, smiling. “How little you know about the Ghost Zone.” He tossed it up and caught it before flying back to his home.

.

“I don’t like this.” Phantom remarked, looking around them as the other two gathered more food nearby. “He’s too quiet. I haven’t seen any ghosts, or anything.”

“Maybe he’s stopped whatever he’s doing?” Dash suggested as he watched for an animal to come by.

“I doubt it. It’s been two days since he attacked you, he wouldn’t have distracted me if he was planning to stop.” Phantom bit his lip. “Maybe—“

“—he’s achieved his goal.” Danny said, looking up from the berry bush he was digging in.

Phantom nodded. “I should get back to Amity Park…”

Danny sighed and got up, grabbing Phantom’s arm and pulling him along. “We’ll be right back, Dash!”

Dash blinked in confusion and quietly followed them.

“—don’t have NEAR enough power or experience to leave a double here while you go play hero!” He heard Danny saying firmly. “This works for fooling Dash or anyone else in close-range, but you need all the power you can get if you’re going to go against Plasmius!”

“Great, I’m being told off by my snarky double.” Phantom looked annoyed.

“Hey, _someone_ has to be the _smart_ one here!” Danny stomped his foot in annoyance. “You can’t go fight Plasmius, Danny!”

What the…? Dash couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Fooling him? Double? What? He stepped closer to try to hear better, but a stick snapped under his foot and the two froze in surprise.

“Dash?” Danny guessed, looking at him. “…How much did you hear?”

“…What did you mean by ‘fooling’ me?” Dash asked, stepping into their view.

“Well, guess he knows too much. Let’s kill him.” Danny joked.

“You can just go away now.” Phantom frowned, his eyes flashing a brighter green before Danny changed into another Phantom and then vanished. “Dash…I’m sorry. I’ve been…half-lying to you.”

“Half-lying?” Dash blinking.

“Phantom…IS me.” Phantom changed into Danny Fenton. “That’s the biggest lie. We’re not just connected, we ARE the same.” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

“So…what was that, then?” Dash asked. “And the stories about working with Phantom?”

“I had to think fast. I came up with a clever lie, which I’ll be using on anyone else, but you deserve to know the truth. You’ve proven that I can trust you.” Danny glanced away. “The accident…it’s true. I gained Phantom’s powers that day, when the portal opened. I was badly electrocuted and brought close to death. The ectoplasm that powered the machine entered my body when it activated. All the pranks Phantom just confessed to a couple nights ago? That was actually my doing. I had to fight Pariah Dark, so I got you out of my way by overshadowing you. My friends are involved because they were there when I changed for the first time during the accident. My parents didn’t see, and know nothing.”

Dash stepped closer, blinking. “So…all those scars…and your always disappearing and coming back to class last or just not at all…?”

“You saw those? Yeah, I was fighting ghosts. I’m what they call a ‘halfa’, half-human and half-ghost.” Danny bit his lip. “I understand if you’re mad. I’ve been lying to you, acting like Phantom and I are two different people. It was terrible. But, well, with how you bullied me all the time…how could I know I could trust you? But I feel that I can. So I’m telling you the tru—guh?!” His eyes shot open wide as Dash threw his arms around him.

“I thought it was tough for you just _working_ with Phantom, but you’ve really been him all along!” Dash said, holding him tighter. “You risk your _life_ protecting us, and I…God, I’m such a bastard!”

“Dash, don’t swear.” Danny said, frowning. “You didn’t know, and that’s exactly what I wanted. I didn’t want you to find out and treat me any different. My body heals really fast from wounds like you give me, so it’s not even that much of a pain. Just annoying, when I have to get through you.”

“How can I say that I admire Phantom and still beat him up every day?” Dash looked at him, holding him at arms-length. “And now you have to go save people again and I’m in your way!”

“Dash, it’s really better for me if you don’t change how you act around me.” Danny said, sighing. “As for fighting Plasmius…my double was right. I can’t finish this and still take care of Plasmius at the same time. But Plasmius could be plotting something really big, so we’d have to end this prematurely…” He looked thoughtful.

“…Hurt me.” Dash said firmly.

“What?!” Danny looked at him.

“Hurt me! Beat me up; we’ll say it was Plasmius who did it!” Dash nodded firmly.

“How can I get you back home?” Danny asked, then blinked. “Wait…hold on.” He stepped back and changed into Phantom, flying into the air.

He had seen a glimpse of it before, but now he wanted to get a closer look. He flew over and saw it, the white building in the woods. “Now, whose place could that be?” He asked himself sarcastically.

He flew down and landed next to Dash. “Okay, I know how we’re getting out of here. But I’m not going to beat you up, so we’re just going to say the cabin is on fire. Let’s get our stuff and I’ll set it on fire.”

“Or we could spare the cabin, and say that we were just attacked by ghosts and we have no proper weapons.” Dash suggested.

“Okay, we’ll figure out the details later. Let’s just get our stuff.” Danny grabbed the basket and thermos and flew off, Dash following close behind.

.

“Wait, we’re just going to break into this place?” Dash asked, looking up at the building. He was carrying the bags, while Danny led the way.

“Yep. Chances are, he’s not even home. I mean, you can TRY the doorbell, if you want.” Danny gestured to the doorbell. “But, I prefer to just go in when it comes to Plasmius.”

“How do you know it’s his place?” Dash asked. “I mean, the nameplate says ‘V.M.’.” He pointed to it.

“Trust me, it’s his place.” Danny sighed and changed into his human form, landing and pushing the doorbell. “Since you’re so worried, though…”

They waited for a few minutes, and then Danny held up a hand and changed before going invisible and intangible, going through the door. He checked high and low and all over before opening the door for him. “See? Empty.”

“Better safe than sorry, Fenton.” Dash said, going inside.

“Make sure you don’t call me that when I’m in Phantom form when we’re not alone or alone with our allies, okay?” Danny said, frowning. “Y’know, my life and/or freedom depends on people keeping my secret identity a secret.”

“Right, sorry, Phantom.” Dash said with a sheepish grin.

Danny sighed. “I’m going to check out that machinery we saw while you make the call. I’ll be back.” He flew out, leaving Dash alone in the house.

“Right. I’ll just find the phone.” Dash set down their bags and went to find the phone.

.

Danny flew over to the clearing, frowning. “Okaaaay, so you were doing some digging here.” He landed and approached the hole. It felt a lot like the Ghost Zone, the closer he got, and he saw a device lying by the hole. “…What’s this?” He picked it up, frowning. “Never seen him use this thing before.”

It didn’t look like anything he’d ever seen, but from the hooked edges it seemed to latch onto something. “Okay. So, he dug something up, and used this device on it.” He mumbled, standing up. “The question is: what did he dig up?”

He flew down into the hole, going down to the bottom of it, and finally landed. “Right…it’s really strong here.” He said to himself, looking around in the darkness. “Ghost-vision, one of the things I am SO grateful for.” He remarked, walking over and picking up a green stone. “What’s thi—nngh?!” He nearly dropped it, surprised by the flow of ghost energy going into his core. “…Whoa, what a power-up!” He looked at it. “…But that machinery wasn’t just getting little pieces. I bet you’re just one piece of a whole big thing.” He gripped it tightly and flew back out. ‘Plasmius with THIS much power? Not cool!’ He thought, heading for the building again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, reveal time.


	8. Home Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny and Dash go home, but not before using Vlad's facilities.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danny Phantom (c) Butch Hartman & Nickelodeon

Dash and Danny waited inside the building for their ride. Dash’s parents had been out, so Danny had gotten ahold of his own parents and they said they’d be there “in a Fenton hour”, which Danny explained could be anywhere between one hour to five and proposed they raid Plasmius’s pantry for food and use his facilities to clean themselves up. It had now been three hours and no RV had pulled up.

“Think the laundry will be done by the time they get here?” Dash asked him.

“Depends on how distracted my dad gets. We DID tell them there were ghosts by our cabin, so they might be checking that out first.” Danny set down his mug of cocoa and pulled out the stone. “I wish I knew what this was…”

“You don’t know?” Dash asked, looking at it. “Looks like an emerald to me.”

“Yeah, an emerald that powers up ghosts.” Danny closed his hand on it, sighing. “I’ve only been a half-ghost for about a year and a half, so I don’t know all the rules or the lore. My experience with Ghost Zone artifacts has been…” He paused, thinking of the staff that could control ghosts, the Ring of Rage, the Soul Shredder, and the Infi-Map. “Difficult to deal with.” He finished, nodding.

Dash nodded, looking thoughtful. “Well, is there anyone you could ask about this?”

“There’s a few people, but they all require going into the Ghost Zone through the portal in Amity Park. If Plasmius has this thing as well, who knows what he’s already done…” Danny pursed his lips tightly.

Dash nodded, looking to the side. “Hey, can I ask a question?”

“Eh, shoot.” Danny shrugged.

“Is Plasmius like you?” Dash asked.

Danny blinked, looking up at him. “Uhm…”

“Because you said this is Plasmius’ place, but the towels have ‘Vlad Masters’ monogrammed on them.” Dash pointed out.

Danny blinked, then started laughing. “That idiotic, rich fruitloop!” He said, smacking the table enthusiastically. “Well, I guess you figured it out! Yes, Plasmius is our _lovely_ mayor, isn’t that great news? Now I have to worry about stopping him before he rules over more than just my town.”

“Why do you do it?” Dash asked. “Why do you risk your life AND your after-life protecting Amity Park?”

Danny blinked. “Isn’t that an obvious question? Because I live in Amity Park, and someone has to stop the ghosts. I wasn’t lying when I said that I accidentally let them in, so even if I didn’t live there and have to deal with it, I’m under obligation to keep the ghosts in line.” He looked at his other hand, which was glowing green now. “I have the power to try to make things right. I could just fly away, avoid ever running into the Guys in White or my parents, but I won’t. I _want_ to stay and help.” He looked at Dash. “Like I said before, ghost-fighting is one of the only things I can do _right_.”

Dash smiled a bit, reaching over to take his glowing hand. “Well, you do a great job at it. If it wasn’t for you, we’d all be slaves of that ghost king.”

“Pariah Dark.” Danny informed him. “His name is Pariah Dark. And he’s not completely gone, just sealed. When I’m strong enough…I’ll let him out again and battle him.” He frowned. “IF Plasmius isn’t already doing that exact same thing right now!” He clenched his teeth.

Dash frowned and then looked at the door. “Your parents might be here soon. I’ll go get the laundry and pack it into our bags.”

Danny nodded, slipping the stone into his pocket and getting up to look out the window.

Dash sighed as he watched him and then headed to the laundry room. He couldn’t imagine lying to his parents that way that Danny did, but now he would have to keep a secret so closely-guarded that it would kill Danny Phantom or worse for it to be revealed. It was a lot of responsibility…

.

After it hit four hours and fifteen minutes, the RV finally pulled up. Dash and Danny looked over from playing a game of Reversi and Danny went to answer the door while Dash packed up the game.

“Dann-o!” Jack greeted, pulling him close in a bear hug. “We checked out the cabin for you guys, but it looks like you got the ghosts that were around there! Your teacher said it’s okay to come back early, though, as long as you’ve filled out your logs up to this day and spend the rest of the summer doing outdoor stuff together.”

“We have.” Danny assured him. “How are things back home?”

“Everything’s pretty calm there, though we of course have some trouble with ghosts. That guitarist came by and tried to control people, but we chased her away well enough. She said it wasn’t as much fun without Phantom and his friends around, which is just weird. I thought Phantom was in the Ghost Zone!” Jack scratched the back of his head.

“Actually, he was around here.” Dash said. “He came investigating some trouble with a ghost, saved our lives a few times.”

“Oh, really?” Jack frowned. “I’m not so sure I’m okay with him being around Danny all the time…” He gestured to the RV. “Well, come on. Your mother and sister are waiting inside.”

Danny nodded and they grabbed their bags, heading out to the RV.

“Hey, Fenton?” Dash said quietly as they approached the RV and Jack went around to the driver’s seat. “Maybe you could do that double thing in Amity Park. Y’know, since you have the power-up stone and all.”

Danny blinked and touched his pocket. “Why didn’t I think of that before?” He mumbled, climbing into the RV.

“Danny!” Jazz greeted as they got in. “Oh, and hey, Dash.”

“How’s my baby boy?” Maddie asked as she got out of her seat and hugged him.

“Tired of living in the woods and ready for a Nasty Burger.” Danny replied. “I am so tired of eating rabbit, mole, and berries.”

Maddie chuckled. “My little city boy.” She kissed his cheek. “Sit down with your sister; we have to head back now so we’ll be back by night-time!”

Danny and Dash sat down next to Jazz and the RV started up and set into motion. Dash watched as the two siblings whispered back and forth, guessing that Jazz must be one of the others working with Danny Phantom – maybe even the one that kept sucking him into the thermos by accident. After a bit, Danny pulled out the stone and showed it to Jazz, whispering again as she took it.

He could understand why they were whispering, but couldn’t help but feel like they were keeping him out of some kind of loop. Granted, he was most likely just telling her about everything that had happened during the past week, including him finding out, but Dash still wanted to be involved.

“What about Foley and Manson?” He suddenly said, looking at Danny.

Danny paused in his conversation and looked at him. “We had an emergency cut ours short. I guess we’ll see them after the summer.”

“So…are you two…friends now?” Jazz asked, looking at Danny.

“Well…I trust him.” Danny said, smiling at Dash.

Dash looked out the window to let them continue their conversation and tried to calm his swiftly-beating heart. He’d always admired Phantom, and sure he had even considered that if he was with a guy it would be him, but he’d never really felt that way about Danny Fenton.

Granted, Danny had also never really smiled at him like that before. Even when they were at the cabin, his smiles weren’t that confident one that he’d always seen Phantom giving.

God, how that smile made his heart race.

.

They pulled up in front of Dash’s house and Dash grabbed his bag before hopping out. “Well, see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah.” Danny nodded, waving as Dash walked up to his front door.

“He seems like a nice boy.” Maddie smiled. “I’m glad you two are finally getting along, Danny.”

Danny closed the door after making sure Dash got inside and sat back in his seat. “We had a lot of time to talk about stuff. He’s…not really so bad, when you get past the tough jock thing.”

Maddie nodded and then Jack drove them back to their home. They pulled into the driveway and Danny got out, heading for his room. He picked up his phone when he got there and sighed, shaking his head.

‘Even if it’s Tucker, there’s no way his parents didn’t check to make sure he wasn’t bringing along electronics. Guess it’s radio-silence until the end of summer.’ He thought, setting his phone down. ‘Darn, I really wanted to talk to him about this stuff.’ He pulled out the stone, frowning. “I have to ask about you, too…” He mumbled.

“Danny, we’re ordering take-out! What do you want?” Maddie called up the stairs.

Danny put the stone in his pocket again and went downstairs. “Can I get a Nasty Meal with some root beer?” He asked. “I really want one.”

“Aww, okay.” Maddie hugged him, kissing his head. “We can get that for you, Danny.”

“Thanks, mom.” Danny walked over to sit with his sister and dad, watching TV. Apparently there was increased ghost activity all around America. Danny frowned and got up to turn up the TV, listening closely.

“—don’t even know where they’re coming from! They seem to coming out of green rings in the sky, and our city is being—ahh—overrun!” The newscaster said as he fled off-screen, chased by a green ghost.

“That’s one of Plasmius’ creations.” Danny mumbled to himself, frowning. “I recognize it.”

“Danny, do you want to come with me to get the food?” Maddie asked, walking over to them.

“Yeah.” He got up. ‘After dinner, I’ll head into the Ghost Zone and check this out. I can leave a double here, since I’m all powered up by this stone.’ He thought, one hand going to his pocket to wrap around the stone.’

.

Dinner went quickly, with Danny barely paying attention to the rest of his family as he ate. Once he was done, he announced he was going to his room and headed up, closing the door behind him and changing as soon as it clicked into place. “Okay…here goes.” He closed his eyes and focused, splitting into two once more. “Okay, that works without trouble.” He looked at the double. “You’re going to stay here while I check things out.”

“I already know the plan; you went over it a dozen times during dinner.” The double held up a hand dismissively. “Just go find out what you need to know, and try not to be seen by any of our enemies. We have NO idea how much power Plasmius has in the Ghost Zone by now.”

“Yeah, true. Especially if he unsealed and defeated Pariah Dark.” Danny said nervously.

“Which we don’t know for sure happened, but it’s a possibility and so we have to worry about it.” The double said, nodding. “Get going, the sooner you head out, the better.”

“Yeah.” He went invisible and phased through the floor, pulling out the stone from his belt when he got to the lab. “Here goes.” He gripped it tightly and opened the portal doors, flying inside.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh, ghosts EVERYWHERE!

**Author's Note:**

> What a way to spend the summer!


End file.
